The September 11 attacks were a series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks carried out in 2001 against targets in the United States by 19 militants affiliated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda and were the deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil. But did you know how did an FBI informant get a confession about the 9/11 attack?
An FBI informant wore a wire to breakfast with a city official suspected of bribery, and the suspect met the informant at the World Trade Center Marriott. While obtaining a confession, the informant creates what is thought to be the only continuous audio recording of the September 11 attacks.
The Attack on World Trade Center
At 8:45 am. on September 11, 2001, an American Airlines Boeing 767 carrying 20,000 gallons of jet fuel crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City on a clear Tuesday morning.
The impact ripped a gaping, burning hole near the 80th floor of the 110-story skyscraper, killing hundreds instantly and trapping hundreds more on higher floors.
As the evacuation of the tower and its twin began, television cameras broadcast live images of what appeared to be a freak accident at first. Then, 18 minutes after the first plane struck, a second Boeing 767, United Airlines Flight 175, appeared out of nowhere, turned sharply toward the World Trade Center, and sliced into the south tower near the 60th floor.
The collision resulted in a massive explosion that rained down, burning debris on nearby buildings and the streets below. It was clear right away that America was under attack. (Source: Greensboro)
The Attack on the Pentagon
At 9:45 am, as millions watched the events in New York, American Airlines Flight 77 circled over downtown Washington DC before crashing into the west side of the Pentagon military headquarters.
The jet fuel from the Boeing 757 caused a devastating inferno, resulting in the structural collapse of a portion of the massive concrete building that serves as the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. In total, 125 military and civilian personnel and 64 people aboard the airliner were killed in the Pentagon.
The horror in New York took a catastrophic turn less than 15 minutes after the terrorists struck the US military’s nerve center when the World Trade Center’s south tower collapsed in a cloud of massive dust and smoke cloud.
The skyscraper’s structural steel, designed to withstand winds of more than 200 miles per hour and a large conventional fire, could not resist the tremendous heat generated by the burning jet fuel.
The north building of the twin towers collapsed at 10:30 am. Only six people survived the collapse of the World Trade Center towers. Almost 10,000 other people were treated for injuries, many of which were severe
The 9/11 attacks killed 2,996 people, including the 19 terrorist hijackers aboard the four planes. Citizens from 78 different countries were killed in New York, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania. (Source: History)
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